"Don't use this walk-in centre - visit your GP."

Posted by
Anonymous 4 years ago

What I liked

In total, about a further five people were called in for consultations, on top of the original two, before I was. It was only when I raised the issue with the reception staff and a nurse that I was noticed. The practice nurse who saw me was, though initially a little grumpy, very helpful. They diagnosed me quickly and didn't hesitate to prescribe medication for my prolonged condition.

When it came to paying, though, more problems confronted me. I had just that day purchased a new prescription prepayment certificate, so did not yet have the card. In such circumstances, I should be able to ask for a FP57 receipt form which I could use to reclaim the price I pay on the day for the prescriptions. Neither the reception staff nor the nurse, though, had any idea what that was. They said a card receipt would be enough. It wasn't, and so I have now lost money that I shouldn't have.

See your GP - not these people.

Anything else?

Evidently, a lot of money has been spent here, and the experience of visiting is aesthetically wonderful.

However, sadly, this is wasted. The walk-in centre is actually terrible. My experience began with meeting with surely the most rude reception staff anyone could meet. They had seen that I had been waiting since before they had even arrived and the clinic opened, yet they served the two later arrivals before me. They also prioritised one person over me because I, unlike her, had not visited the centre before. I subsequently had to wait 1.5 hours to be seen. In that time, I saw the reception staff repeatedly condemn people by rudely dismissing their queries. I observed several people asking for directions to the X-ray and GPs departments, which is to be expected when the signage around the hospital is quite poor, and they were all met with a simple "I don't know" or, in the case of the querying person's persistance, a very forceful rebuke for expecting a member of staff to know directions to areas that they really should be expected to know.

In total, about a further five people were called in for consultations, on top of the original two, before I was. It was only when I raised the issue with the receptionist and a nurse that I was noticed. The practice nurse who saw me was, though initially a little grumpy, very helpful. They diagnosed me quickly and didn't hesitate to prescribe medication for my prolonged condition.

When it came to paying, though, more problems confronted me. I had just that day purchased a new prescription prepayment certificate, so did not yet have the card. In such circumstances, I should be able to ask for a FP57 receipt form which I could use to reclaim the price I pay on the day for the prescriptions. Neither the reception staff nor the nurse, though, had any idea what that was. They said a card receipt would be enough. It wasn't, and so I have now lost money that I shouldn't have.